"I'd say that today our most important place to get some direction or movement towards (Monday)'s game is between the ears," Canadiens GM and coach Bob Gainey said.

The Bruins scored three power-play goals Saturday night before the Canadiens enjoyed their first and only man advantage late in the second game.

"They've been playing smart, staying out of the box," Montreal right wing Tom Kostopoulos said. "We can learn from that."

Boston, which also stayed off the ice Sunday, has only been short-handed three times overall while building a 2-0 lead in the first-round series.

"I think you've always got to expect the best from your opponent," Kostopoulos said. "I'm not sure if we expected them to be so disciplined."

The Canadiens have yet to hold a lead through the first two games of the series. Boston has converted four of nine power-play opportunities, going 3-for-5 in Game 2.

"It's a big part of the playoffs that you have to control your emotions and you have to make sure that you don't do anything that costs you in the games," captain Zdeno Chara said before the team was slated to travel to Montreal.

The Bruins have successfully killed each of Montreal's three power-play opportunities through the first two games, including both in Thursday's 4-2 win in the series opener.

"We have enough guys that are making that connection with the young players and players who are not as experienced at this time of the year," Chara said. "It's OK to get excited, it's OK to be playing with a lot of energy, but at the same time we have to relax, have fun and control the emotions and just play smart."

Boston also failed to yield a goal after Milan Lucic was assessed a match penalty for a blow to the head of Montreal's Maxim Lapierre that left the Bruins short-handed for the final 4:32 Saturday. On Sunday, the NHL suspended Lucic for Game 3.

"I think we're fortunate that Maxim doesn't have an injury," Gainey said. "He's able to play, he doesn't have anything serious, and - as I said (Saturday) night - that's in the league's hands and that's who deals with it."

And Colin Campbell, the NHL's senior executive vice president of hockey operations, dealt with it Sunday.

"While it is unclear whether Lucic's glove or stick makes contact with Lapierre, what is clear is that he delivered a reckless and forceful blow to the head of his opponent," Campbell said.

Boston has already lost defenseman Matt Hunwick, who is out indefinitely after having emergency surgery Saturday to remove his spleen.

Most of Hunwick's teammates visited him in the hospital and Julien phoned him.

"I know he's got to spend a couple days in the hospital, but he was feeling better and I said there's things in life that are more important than a hockey game," Julien said. "He's taking care of himself and we're going to do our best to make this playoff (run) as long as we can so that we give him a chance to come back and participate with us again."

For their part, the Canadiens sorely miss defenseman Andrei Markov, who has been out with a lower body injury.